What Hands What Position????

[Dimaline312000]

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. I've been playing a lot of what I call Fake Poker. Games and Apps on My Space and Facebook to try to get a little practice without losing real bankroll at PokerStars.com. I've really been stick to playing the top 20 to 25 hands and I seem to do decent. I play a lot of Sit N Go Tourney's on My Space on Zynga Poker and I usually at least finish in the money. My question is. A lot of times I get tempted to play Suited Connectors like 8/9 of Hearts and sometimes J/10o. I usually fold them and later in the hand see that I could have won. Now I know I'm not necessarliy supposed to look at the results of the hand and I should stick to what I do know but I really want to start playing them hands a little more but I'm really not sure when to play them. I'm not a person that will defend his big or small blind or Dealer Buttonn if a raise comes preflop. Is that something I should start doing or what? When can I play suited connectors and hands like that? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[EasyPoker]

http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...re-123008.html

[philly and the phanatics]

one time i folded 72o and i woulda flopped a full house, still regret that fold to this day, i can tell you from experience dont let the next flopped full house pass you by, play every hand you never know you could flop a monster

[StarGrinder]

one time i folded 72o and i woulda flopped a full house, still regret that fold to this day, i can tell you from experience dont let the next flopped full house pass you by, play every hand you never know you could flop a monster

QFT

OP needs some serious fundamental work. So you're tired of playing the top 25 hands? Can you even play the top 25 hands? My guess would be an astounding no. If you don't know when or why should be playing hands like 98, then you have no business entering a pot with them unless you just wanna hand you're bankroll over.

No offense, but from your posts on this forum, it doesn't sound like poker is a game for you, especially when you're talking about how you could have won or how will you know what cards will come. This is a great forum, but no one is going to spoon feed you. Go buy some poker books, grab a starting hand guide and join Grinder School.

[Imthenewfish]

http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ad-183113.html
^^^^^get a free sweat session at 2nl if you're afraid of losing your roll on stars

[Arjonius]

If you're winning because you play a half-decent solid game, and not because the opponents are very poor and don't care, you should be okay playing entry-level SNGs. You may not win much, but you won't lose a lot either. As you get emotionally comfortable playing buyins, you can think about expanding your game.

OTOH, if you get your ass handed to you over a reasonable sample size, you'll know your game needs work. And if you don't start feeling less discomfort, you'll know playing for play chips is where you still belong.

[surviva316]

this is a cool exercise that i just pulled out of my ass (almost literally 'cause i was playing with stove while i was droppin a deuce).

download pokerstove. start out with the number 50% and call that your BU range. go into stove and slide the bar up to 50% and see what hands are there. make some adjustments, like i think 22 and 75s aren't considered in the top 50% of hands, yet things like J4s and Q2s are ('cause it's based on AIPF equity), so fiddle around with it, and you can find yourself a pretty decent BU opening range.

multiply 50% by .65 (told you i'm pulling this stuff outta my ass), and you get 32-point-something percent or something--we'll call this your CO range. go into stove, and slide the slider up to 32 percent and add in all the PPs, and 65s+, and 75s+, and take out stuff like Q7s and J9o, etc, and you get a not so terrible CO opening range.

multiply 32-point-something percent by .65, and you have a decent HJ PFR number. again, go in stove, move the slider to 21% (or whatever the exact number is), add in 44+, and 87s+ and A2s-A5s and take out A8o and all that crap, and you have a not so terrible HJ opening range.

multiply that number by .65, rinse repeat for all the positions.

this is obviously pretty arbitrary way to actually define any sort of definitive opening ranges, but i think it's a pretty cool exercise for BCers to do. for god's sake, when you're playing like 20bb's poker, and people are limping left and right and there's someone to your left who's super shove happy and there's icm calculations and all that stuff that comes into play with SnG's ranges are super fluid and NO exercise can demonstrate what you should be playing with accuracy. BUT, i think that beginners tend to find it super counterintuitive to have AJo to be a snap fold in almost all situations when you're 7 off from the BU, yet J9o is a snap open when you're OTB most the time, and i think this exercise is a cool way to show just how much your range should be changing based on position.

[Dimaline312000]

Well I've read the book The Illustarted Guide to No Limit Hold Em by Dennis Purdy and I just bought No Limit Hold Em Theory and Practice by David Sklansky and Ed Miller. I haven't had a chance to start reading it yet. I don't play a lot of hands UTG or in early position unless it's a really good hand or a hand I think I can make some type of play with. Maybe Poker isn't my game but I do enjoy it and I want to get better I just want to learn more about thinking like a player. I have won a hand or two playing suited connectors like 9/8 hearts or something like that. I've already read and learned some of the basics like hand odds vs pot odds and equity. One thing I am still trying to learn is playing a line and what that means when I hear a player saying something like that's a weird line or a funky line. I'm not asking to be spoon fed but I would like some tips. I admit I don't think Cash Games are for me. I much prefer tournaments. I really honestly seem to think I play better. I feel as I do get into the mind-set of playing like a real poker player. As for playing hands like 7/2 suited or not just to try to flop a monster. No chance in hell am I playing that way. I've learned my lesson with playing like that.

[daviddem]

A good book to start, and enjoyable to read is Harrington on Hold'em (all three volumes). This is geared towards tournament poker, is an easy read and doesn't have too much maths to overwhelm beginners. It gets you in the right mind set, has good suggestions for a tight aggressive preflop strategy, teaches you the basics of c-betting and some post flop plays. Also has a lot of practical examples, exercises and hands analysis.

Then go on with Sklansky's No Limit book (geared towards cash games, much more math and theory in there), and read the articles here on FTR and the 2+2 forums. There is a wealth of information here available for free, you just have to grab it!

Then play real money at the smallest stakes, and post here the hands that gave you problems for analysis and advice (or flaming!). Learn to put your opponents on ranges and calculate your odds on the fly.

"Taking a weird line" simply means "make an unusual or unexpected play given how the hand played out so far and how this player usually plays". You don't really "learn to play a line", although you could call c-betting, check-raising the turn or floating the flop "lines". A line is just a sequence of betting patterns street after street (again for example: "check/calling on the flop and check raising the turn" is a line of play).

Check out the poker lingo and poker dictionary on this site for other terms you might not understand.

One last advice: don't base yourself on Facebook or "play money" to find out where you stand. The games are very different when playing for real money, even at the lowest stakes.

[HarleyGuy13]

Sounds like your on the right track with the books so read on bro.
I'm not a fan of fake poker myself as I don't feel it does you a damn bit of good once you understand the absolute bare basics. Playing against a bunch of dumbshit's who do the stupidist shit in the world isn't of much help to you in my opinion. At best you rise to the top of the heap and find yourself in the top % of the dumbshits and who really wants to be the best of the worst?
I really think you are much better off playing the cheapest SnG's at PS if you want to focus on SnG's. Otherwise play fullring 2nl and grind your way up.

[Dimaline312000]

Thanks, I just want to say that was the old me that would ask how do you know what cards will come. I've learned at least a little bit since those types of posts. I play those games on my space and facebook becasue I thought it would be good practice but it just like you said you play against dumbasses that go all in all the time and never accomplish anything. I seem to do a lot better in tournaments than I do cash games. So I think I'm going to take everyone's advice and read more and play in the SnG's on PStars. I enjoy the cash games but I'm not sure how to transisition my mind set between playing cash games and tournaments so I thnik I'll stick with the Tourney's and just try to get better from there. Thanks for the help everyone.